Abstract
BackgroundReproductive health outcomes among women from Burma who live along the Thailand-Burma border demonstrate an unmet need for access to safe abortion services. In 2014, a multi-national team launched a collaborative three-year initiative to expand a program that refers eligible women for safe and legal abortion care to government Thai hospitals in Tak province, Thailand.MethodsOver a six-month period we conducted 14 in-depth open-ended interviews with women from Burma who were referred through the program or denied a wanted abortion after being deemed ineligible for referral by staff at the participating clinic. We analyzed the interviews for content and themes using both deductive and inductive techniques.ResultsWomen’s experiences accessing legal abortion care were positive and facilitated by appropriate options counseling, logistical support, and financial coverage. Five of the ineligible women we interviewed used traditional methods accessed on both sides of the border to self-induce an abortion and/or visited an untrained and unregulated provider.DiscussionOur findings highlight the need to redouble efforts to expand access to safe and legal abortion care for women from Burma residing in northern Thailand. Ensuring that women who are denied a safe and legal abortion receive harm reduction interventions and resources is critical.
Highlights
Mass migration of people from Burma into neighboring countries is a result of a myriad of factors including decades of civil conflict, ongoing human rights violations, and the lack of socio-economic development and employment opportunities
Maternal mortality and reproductive health indicators in northern Thailand reflect improved outcomes compared to Burma, and conflict-affected Eastern Burma where the maternal mortality ratio is estimated to be 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births
At the time of our interview, eight participants were living in the greater Mae Sot, Thailand area, five resided in Eastern Burma, and one was a refugee based in Mae La Camp
Summary
Mass migration of people from Burma into neighboring countries is a result of a myriad of factors including decades of civil conflict, ongoing human rights violations, and the lack of socio-economic development and employment opportunities. These dynamics have led to the displacement of more than 1.5 million people into Thailand, a population that includes migrants with varied legal status and refugees in nine unofficial camps operating in the border region [1,2]. Abortion laws in Burma have remained unchanged since the establishment of the 1860 Burma Penal Code, which prohibits abortion in all cases except when terminating the pregnancy is required to save the life of the woman [10]. In 2014, a multi-national team launched a collaborative three-year initiative to expand a program that refers eligible women for safe and legal abortion care to government Thai hospitals in Tak province, Thailand
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